Introducing Cross-Cultural Branding

January 5, 2020     africa / afrolehar / brand / brand expansion / brand identity / cross-cultural branding / marketing / social media / word-of mouth

Before delving into the cross-cultural branding for consumers journey let us do the preliminary work. To be on the same page, let us define every key word in our coined term. If you disagree with the definitions, you would have to contact Webster and Oxford before contacting us.

Definition: Cross-Cultural Branding Consumers

Starting with the simplest word Cross that is defined as “go or extend across or to the other side of ” and in this case, it captures the importance of the intersection and transverse between one to other.

Continuing with the most over-used and misunderstood word, CULTURE.  Webster defines culture as “the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action”. In latin, culture means “Cultura” stemming from the word Colere, which means “to cultivate” is defined as “the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions and all other products of human works and thoughts. Culture is learned and shared within social groups and is transmitted by non-genetic means”.

As defined by allaboutbranding.com, BRAND is a unique and identifiable symbol, association, name or trademark, which serves to differentiate competing products or services; both a physical and emotional trigger to create a relationship between consumers and the product/service.

Another word that needs to be defined is Consumer/Consumes. Be it a company or a country, one on end there is the provider and on the other there is the consumer that consumes. In this case, consumer is one that utilizes economic goods, to engage fully and to enjoy avidly.

Have companies already taken into consideration cultural consumers mindset, both abroad and on the continent?

Now that we are all starting from the same place, cross-cultural branding means that companies have to place their products in multicultural markets by taking into consideration the cultural fabrics of consumers. The aim of cross-cultural branding is to ensure brand expansion through publishing and trade, all while preserving the integrity and image of the brand. For example, experts and bloggers of Link cultures states “When entering the Chinese market, renaming the brand is a must. How your brand is called in Chinese can be vital for the success of the brand. However, renaming a brand in Chinese is very complicated and requires a deep understanding of Chinese culture as well as linguistic skills.”

How to promote brands – various approaches for every market?

In a globalized world, it is important to understand culture when executing marketing campaigns, launching products, conceptualizing advertisements and all other initiatives to capture the minds of consumers. Cross-cultural branding is a wholesome approach to marketing and in depth understanding of global trends, markets, consumer behavior, target stakeholders and so much more. There are many innovative methods to capture consumers minds some such as word-of-mouth marketing (most organic way though hard to achieve), surprise marketing (strategically crafted and impactful) and social media marketing (EASY DISTRIBUTION though requires consistency and needs various knowledge components to reach the virtual masses). Hence, outlets and methods are used to push brands and cultivate loyal consumers.

A strong brand integrates multiple components, all of them necessary, including customer interactions, employee communications, corporate philosophy and advertising/marketing efforts as it extends to your employees, customers, the media and consumers.Cross-cultural branding does exactly that as it understands the basis of consumers psyche and data.

When entering into the African market, will companies brand based on culture?

Consumer market “single-largest business opportunity” on the African continent is projected as consumer-facing industries grow by $400 billion by 2020. With the AfCFTA, for US brands to enter the African consumer market, it needs to firstly shift its thinking of Africa – through relevant information which is shared beyond the conference halls; immersive experiences not just a one time trade missions rather measurable interaction with the country representatives ( embassy), diaspora ( generation of Africans who are now Americans) and native businesses ( Africa based businesses that have experience establishing consumer markets). McKinsey reports that companies can better tailor products to local markets if they understand what quality means for African customers and know their preferences, lifestyles, and daily needs while rethinking the needs of African consumers. US companies need to see the value of African consumer markets as Harvard Business Review forecast total annual consumer spending in the region to reach US$ 2.5 trillion by 2025. Although there are misconception about African consumer markets, for instance, even middle- and upper-middle-income consumers continue to prefer shopping for staples in open-air markets rather than in malls, believing them to be fresher and to offer better value.